How it connects
The rigid backing spine of a strip brush slides longitudinally into the open channel cavity, with the bristles protruding through the narrow slot. The ends of the channel are often crimped or pinched to prevent sliding out.
Male and female halves
Female slotted channel cavity that receives a male backing strip/spine of a strip brush.
Usually connects to
- strip brush spine / backing core
- weather seal spine
Common sizes
- Industry standard sizes include #4 channel (approx. 0.176" x 0.325" cavity with ~0.12"-0.25" slot for standard brush sizes) and #7 channel (for heavy/large industrial brushes), available in various extrusion profiles and lengths.
Where it is used
commercial and residential overhead garage doorsdock levelershangar doorsentry doorsmachinery enclosures
Variations
- straight retainer
- 45-degree angle retainer
- 90-degree angle retainer
- offset retainer
- reverse 45-degree retainer
- #4 standard size
- #7 large/oversized
How to recognise it
Recognized as a long extruded aluminum or plastic profile with an internal rectangular or C-shaped cavity and an open continuous slot along the face or edge where brush bristles extend outwards.
Often confused with
| Confused with | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Channel Strut (e.g. Unistrut) | Channel strut is a heavy structural framing channel (e.g., 1-5/8" profile), whereas brush retainer channels are lightweight miniature extruded profiles with narrow bristle slots (e.g. #4 or #7 size). |
| T-slot extrusion | T-slot framing extrusions have symmetrical internal flanges designed to clamp T-nuts, whereas brush seal channels are specifically contoured to loosely slide-fit strip brush backing cores. |
Also called
brush seal retainer channelweather seal retainer channelbrush track#4 channel retainer#7 channel retainerextruded brush holder channel
Good to know
Commonly integrated into aluminum door sweeps and perimeter seal carriers. After the strip brush is slid into place along the extrusion's length, the ends are typically crimped slightly to retain the brush longitudinally.
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