locking lever 18 is in the unlocked position notably the fingers 31 are retracted radially inward towards the shaft 20 and the o ring 30 is not in contact with the rigid tube 34 of the roller cover 32 in this position the o ring 30 does not restrict the axial movement of the roller cover 32 relative to the roller assembly 16 the exemplary embodiment of the paint roller 10 is operated as follows starting without a roller cover 32 installed the user places the locking lever 18 in the released unlocked position as is depicted in fig5 this causes the sliding hub 28 to slide axially along the shaft towards the end cap 22 as the sliding hub 28 moves towards the end cap 22 surface 29 of the sliding hub 28 slides along the fingers 31 from contact portion 48 to contact portion 49 because the fingers 31 are thicker at contact portion 48 than at contact portion 49 the fingers 31 are retracted radially by the o ring 30 as the sliding hub moves axially towards the end cap 22 with the locking lever 18 in the unlocked position the fingers 31 are retracted sufficiently for the o ring 30 to be completely within the inner diameter of the rigid tube 34 of the roller cover 32 to be installed the user then inserts the roller assembly 16 into the rigid tube 34 of a roller cover 32 because the fingers 31 and o ring 30 remain retracted the roller cover 32 slides freely until it contacts flange 42 of sliding hub 28 once the roller cover 32 contacts the flange 42 the user continues to insert the roller assembly 16 into the roller cover 32 this causes the roller cover 32 to.