Hand lever to provisionally disengage a parking lock by hand

A lever for the temporary disengagement of a parking lock of a vehicle drive unit, wherein:

• the lever comprises a fixing piece,
• the fixing piece is designed for fitting the lever onto a parking lock shaft which serves to actuate the parking lock and extends at least partially inside the vehicle drive unit,
• the lever is in the form of a hand lever with a gripping handle,
• the gripping handle is designed to be gripped and thereby to enable manual force to be applied, by a user, for the manual actuation of the lever,
• the lever is designed such that when the lever is fitted onto the parking lock shaft:
• when the gripping handle is moved from an engagement position to a disengagement position, by movement of the fixing piece, the parking lock shaft moves with the gripping handle, and, in the engagement position, the parking lock is engaged whereas in the disengagement position the parking lock is disengaged, and
• in the disengagement position, by a further movement, the gripping handle is movable to a locking position in which the lever is blocked from a reverse movement out of the disengagement position,
• wherein the fixing piece and the gripping handle are designed to be movable relative to one another, and the gripping handle is movable relative to the fixing piece into the locking position.

A method for temporary disengagement of a parking lock of a vehicle drive unit by a hand lever which comprises a fixing piece and a gripping handle, the method comprising:

• (a) fitting a fixing piece of the lever onto a parking lock shaft of the vehicle drive unit in an outer area of the drive unit, wherein the parking lock shaft extends at least partially inside the vehicle drive unit to facilitate gripping of the gripping handle by a user, the parking lock shaft disengages the parking lock when the parking lock shaft moves to a disengagement position;
• and then
• (b) manually moving the hand lever to the disengagement position by gripping the gripping handle and applying a manual force on the gripping handle so that the parking lock is disengaged;
• and then
• (c) moving the gripping handle to a locking position in which the hand lever and, hence also the parking lock shaft, are blocked against a reverse movement out of the disengagement position.