Patent ID: 8313011

Claim:
An aerosol system for dispensing sprayable material in a desired spray pattern, comprising: an aerosol container defining an aerosol chamber adapted to contain sprayable material; a valve assembly mounted on the aerosol container; an actuator member comprising a valve stem for engaging the valve assembly, and a plurality of resilient finger projections, where the finger projections are deformable from an undeformed position; a resilient outlet member arranged at least partly between the plurality of finger projections; and a movable member supported by the actuator member; whereby a dispensing path extending from the interior of the aerosol chamber to the exterior of the aerosol chamber and is defined at least in part by the valve assembly, the actuator, and the outlet member; whereby the actuator member engages the valve assembly such that displacement of the actuator member causes the valve assembly to prevent or allow fluid flow along the dispensing path; displacement of the movable member in a first direction acts on the outlet member to deform the plurality of finger projections towards each other from an undeformed position, and a second direction acts on the outlet member to allow the plurality of finger projections to move towards the undeformed position; deformation of the plurality of finger projections towards each other acts on the outlet member to deform the outlet member to alter an effective cross-sectional area of at least a portion of the dispensing path to control the fluid flow along the dispensing path and thereby cause the sprayable material to be dispensed in the desired spray pattern.