On a medical glass line, ampoule forming comes down to one thing: temperature control. One cold spot and the glass splits. One hot streak and you’re staring at optical distortion that fails inspection. The target is straightforward—get the glass hot fast, evenly, and the same way every time, without thermal shock. What matters under the hood We built the ampoule heater around a short-wave infrared (IR) quartz element array, chosen to deliver rapid, volumetric heating with minimal convection loss. The emitters are tuned so their spectral output matches the glass emissivity. Energy goes into the glass, not the surrounding air. The reflector geometry and zone layout are laid out to give a uniform thermal field across the ampoule neck and body. That keeps temperature spread tight and prevents steep thermal gradients from ever forming. Control is closed-loop, with thermocouple feedback and power regulation that holds setpoint within tolerance cycle after cycle. The module is built for industrial work—fast ramp, stable dwell, and a predictable cool-down. Why this lands in medical ampoule production On this line, you need consistent wall thickness, clean seams, and no micro-cracks. Uniform heating cuts down thermal stress, so the glass flows without cracking and anneals without leaving residual strain. You end up with fewer rejects from fracture, less rework from optical distortion, and output that holds steady at line speed. Energy use drops because the heater targets the glass directly and doesn’t waste time stabilizing between shots. The process window tightens, and the operator spends less time chasing drift. The practical details you can’t skip Installation comes down to precise aiming and alignment to the glass path. If it’s off, you get a shadow—and that shadow shows up as a stress riser. Quartz elements don’t like contamination or thermal shock, so purge air and controlled ramp rates matter. Expect to dial in the zone balance for your specific ampoule geometry, then lock it down with a documented setup.