A vial for packing a substance to be smoked from the vial and a method of manufacturing the vial, the method of manufacturing including providing a glass vial, the glass vial having a first end portion and a second end portion connected by a tubular portion having a hollow interior, the first end portion being open and the second end portion being closed; applying heat to a section of the tubular portion to heat the section of the tubular portion; applying a pressure around the heated section of the tubular portion to collapse the section of the tubular portion into the hollow interior of the tubular portion; pressing the first end portion and the second end portion together until an exterior surface of the tubular portion surrounding the collapsed section is level with a remaining exterior surface of the tubular portion; and forming an opening in the second end portion.

Systems for producing articles from glass tube include a converter having a base with a plurality of processing stations and a turret moveable relative to the base. The turret indexes a plurality of holders for holding the glass tubes successively through the processing stations. The systems further include a gas flow system or a suction system for producing a flow of gas through the glass tube during one or more heating, forming, separating or piercing operations. The flow of gas through the glass tube produced by the gas flow system or suction system may be sufficient to evacuate or purge volatile constituents of the glass from the glass tube and/or pierce a meniscus formed on the glass tube during separation, thereby reducing the Surface Hydrolytic Response (SHR) of the interior surface of the glass tube and articles made therefrom.

Systems for producing articles from glass tube include a converter having a base with a plurality of processing stations and a turret moveable relative to the base. The turret indexes a plurality of holders for holding the glass tubes successively through the processing stations. The systems further include a gas flow system or a suction system for producing a flow of gas through the glass tube during one or more heating, forming, separating or piercing operations. The flow of gas through the glass tube produced by the gas flow system or suction system may be sufficient to evacuate or purge volatile constituents of the glass from the glass tube and/or pierce a meniscus formed on the glass tube during separation, thereby reducing the Surface Hydrolytic Response (SHR) of the interior surface of the glass tube and articles made therefrom.

Methods for producing glass articles from glass tube includes securing a glass tube in a holder of a converter; rotating the glass tube; and passing the glass tube through processing stations, which include at least a heating station and a forming station, to form one or more features at a working end of the glass tube. An active time is an amount of time the glass tube is engaged with a heating element or a forming tool while in a processing station, and an exposure index for the processing station is the rotational speed of the glass tube multiplied by a number of heating elements or forming tools in the processing station multiplied by the active time. An absolute difference between the exposure index and a nearest integer is less than or equal to 0.30, which reduces temperature and dimensional inhomogeneity around a circumference of the glass tube.

A quartz glass container is shown and described herein. The quartz glass container exhibits a low concentration of surface defects on an inner surface of the container. In aspects hereof, the container may have a surface defect density of 50 or fewer surface defects per square centimeter within a 1 cm band centered 1 cm from the base of the container.

In a fabricating method for a quartz vial having a body part for containing a substance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the body part, a cylindrical neck part disposed at an upper end of the body part, a cylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck part and having an outer diameter larger than that of the neck part, and a tapered portion connecting the mouth part and the neck part to each other, outer peripheral surfaces of the tapered portion and the neck part are formed by shaving, and the body part that is separately fabricated is welded to the neck part. Thus, quartz vials having a predetermined shape can be mass-fabricated.

A method for producing glass vials, in particular pharmaceutical vials or pharmaceutical ampoules, from a glass tube is provided, the method including the following steps: (a) rotating the glass tube about a longitudinal axis thereof; (b) locally heating the glass tube from one side by means of at least one burner to at least the softening temperature of the glass; (c) reducing the diameter by pressing at least one forming body laterally against the heated region; and (d) separating the glass tube by means of a burner. A glass vial produced in such a way releases a reduced amount of alkali in accordance with ISO 4802 and has a decreased delamination tendency. Furthermore, in the hot-formed peripheral region, the alkali content is only slightly reduced when compared with the alkali content in the glass interior.

A method for producing a glass article having high hydrolytic resistance is provided. A glass tube consisting of borosilicate glass and having an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 content of less than 1 weight-%, a ZrO.sub.2 content of 2-12 weight-%, and a glass transition temperature T.sub.g is reshaped into a glass article and is subsequently subjected to a thermal post-treatment. To reduce the alkali release of the glass article, the glass article is subjected to a treatment temperature of T.sub.BT.sub.g+5 K over a treatment time of t.sub.B5 min and is subsequently cooled during the thermal post-treatment.

A method for producing a glass article having high hydrolytic resistance is provided. A glass tube consisting of borosilicate glass and having an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 content of less than 1 weight-%, a ZrO.sub.2 content of 2-12 weight-%, and a glass transition temperature T.sub.g is reshaped into a glass article and is subsequently subjected to a thermal post-treatment. To reduce the alkali release of the glass article, the glass article is subjected to a treatment temperature of T.sub.BT.sub.g+5 K over a treatment time of t.sub.B5 min and is subsequently cooled during the thermal post-treatment.

In a method for producing glass bottles having a flat base and an opposite filling opening, the base of the glass bottles is further formed at a plurality of processing positions. During the entire further forming of the base, with the aid of a purge gas which by way of the filling opening of the glass bottle flows in or out in a centric manner and flows out or in in an eccentric manner, a purge gas flow is generated in the interior of the glass bottle in order for delamination effects to be reduced. A tube or a nozzle serves for blowing in or suctioning out the purge gas. Various geometries and arrangements of the tube or of the nozzle are disclosed. A multiplicity of geometric constellations of the tube diameters and various mass flow settings are disclosed.