CA1266881A

CA1266881A - Cell jacket

Info

Publication number: CA1266881A
Application number: CA000502691A
Authority: CA
Inventors: John F. Zaborney
Original assignee: Duracell International Inc
Current assignee: Duracell Inc USA
Priority date: 1985-03-07
Filing date: 1986-02-25
Publication date: 1990-03-20
Anticipated expiration: 2007-03-20
Also published as: BR8600977A; US4608323A; IE860592L; FR2578684A1; IE57379B1; BE904356A; SE8601049D0; DK102986A; MX163587B; IT1188410B; GB8605527D0; AU589605B2; DK102986D0; NL8600587A; ES297089U; IT8619619A0; GB2172140A; SE465194B; NO169747B; DE3605328A1

Abstract

CELL JACKET
ABSTRACT
A cell jacket comprised of adhered inner and outer protective layers which protect a metallic ink decoration contained therebetween from degradation. The protective layers are adhered to each other substantially completely around the periphery of the metallic ink decoration.

Description

~26688~L
This in~entiou relates to decorated jsckets for eiectroch~icai ce,ls and particul~rly al~line t~pe cell~.
~lectrochomic~l cells or batteries old to the co~-uming public generall~ require aesthetic~ plea-ing pac~aging for greater acceptance.
Such cells or b-tteries re therefore decorated ~ith the insignias, logo~
or colors of tne particular manufacturers for increased con~umer recognition. Decorated metal containers provide the greatest i~pression of quality. ~o~e~er, such container~ are heavy, bul~y nd co~pri~e a considerable portion of the cost of ~anufacture of the cell or batter~.
~ccordingl~ there has been nn iDcreasing trend tovard the utilization of high qualit~ rigid colored pla~tic containers or jackets such as of ~BS or the use of heat ~hri~ pla~tics sueh aB P~C. The latter proYides the d~antage of smaller container dimen~ion thereb~ enabling the pac~aging of cell~ Yith larger mounts of ctive naterials. ~ problem has hove-er ari-en vith the utili~tion of the heat shrin~ plastic- ~uch as PVC vhen -etallic ppe-r nce is desired for cell container-, particularl~ for cells of the al~aline t~pe. Netallic pigmented in~s used to achie~e a lustrous metallic container appearance are highl~ ~usceptible to degradation or total tissolution b~ corrosi~e electrolytes such - al~aline KO~ placed ~ithin auch cells. Though the electrolyte is cont-ined vithin the cell, such appear-nce degr tation occurs generall~ during ~anufacture of the cell hen it is being fillet vith the electrol~te and is i~eraet in n tmo~phere heavil~ l-den ith the l~-line electro1yte. In ~uch instances, the bighly ~obile nd corrosive n-ture of the al~aline electrol~te nd ~en~itivit~ of the ~etallic in~ are such th t e~en n at~osphere of al~-line electrolyte e~erely tegr-tes appearances.
One e~pedient utili~ed to protect such in~ from the corro~ive influence of electrolytes ~uch s ~0~ h-s in~olved the procedure of initially preshrin~ing the P~C jacketing tube to pprorirate the cell si~e, e~tern-lly decor-ting the P~C tube ~ith the metAlli~ed in~ nd thereafter pl-cing protecti~e pl-stic filn o-er the in~et decoration and -1-- ~

~266881 thereafter encasing the cel,l with the decorated tube. The utilizatinn n~
separate protective plastic filn- in conjunction Yith decorated heat ~hrin~ uaterial, a~ide from being co~tly, i8 some~hat ineffecti~e cince the highl~ mobile l~line electrolyte is capsble of ~ieking bet~een the t~o eparate layers b~ capillary ~ction. ~en a ~11 e~tent of ~uch ~ic~ing i8 capable of cau~ing an uu~ightl~ degr-dation of appearance of -met~llic decoration.
It 1- an object of the present inventlon to pro~lde metAllic in~
decorated heat chrin~ cell container or jac~et in ~hich the metallic in~
~ ~ubstantially protected fro~ tegradation particularly re~ulting from alkaline electrolyte-.
This and other object~, feature~ and ad~antagec of the pre-ent invention ~ill become more e~ident from the follo~ing di-eu~sion a~ ~ell ~ the dra~ings in Yhich ~igure 1 depict~ a ~heet of ~etallic decorated muteri~l Yith ~ultiple panels;
~igure- 2a nd b are e~p-nded cro~ ~ection ~ie~ of the ~heet in Figure 1 t-ken along line~ a-a and b-b re~pecti~el~;
~igure 3 tepict~ a tube of jac~eting uaterial formed fro~ the sheet of Figure l; ~nt Figure 4 depict~ a unit of the tube of Pigure 3 ae positioned on and heat shrun~ onto an al~aline cell.
Generall~ the present iD~ention comprises a met-llic decor~ted jae~et or eont-iner for an eleetrochemieal eell and a cell jac~eted thereYith.
The jac~et is comprised of an outer protective trancparent la~er; a la~er having a metallie appearing material ueb ac metallie in~, cubject to degradation by the eell component~, particularly the eell eleetrolyte; and an inner proteetiYe layer dhered to the outer tran-parent la~er ~ith the metallic in~ being proteeti~ely substantiall~ completel~ e~lingly enclosed betYeen the t~o la~ers. Both the inner and outer layer~ mn~t be sub~tantially if not completely re~i~tant to attac~ aud tegr-tation b~

~ ) ~

~;6881 cell co~ponent- ~uch a~ the corro~ive ~OH electrol~te u-ed in ~l~aline cell~ a~ well a~ being imper eable to uch corro-i~e material- One la~er u~t be a preformed di~crete l~yer upon vhich the in~ i- i~printed ~hereb~
it function~ a~ a ~ub~trate for the in~ed decor-tion The econd l-yer y be appliet a~ a liquid eoating l-~er ~hicb ~olidifies fter application to provide the requisite protection or it ~ be prefor~ed di-crete layer imilar to the fir-t la~er ~ither or both the inner or outer layer can function a- ub-trate for the ~etallic ink decor-tion ~o~ever it ic preferred for manufacturing rea-on~ ~ith ~ery thin heat ~hrin~-ble jac~et- that the outer l-~er eerve ~ the ~ub~trate for the iD} Yith the inner l-~er thereafter being dheringl~ pl-ced thereon. In n~ e~ent protecti~e la~er i- dheriugly pl-ced upon thc in~et ~ub-tr-te to protectively e-lingl~ enclo~e the io~ therebet~ecn. Such protective la~er ~hen placed in the for~ of very thin dherent co-ting la~er- i- pplied in a r~nner cimilar to in~ing. Such co-ting- (generally more than one re requiret) are pplied to the iu}ed ~ub~tr-te until n imper~eable ~ub-t ntially degr-d-tion re~i~t nt l-~er i~ for~ed. Thi~ er hould e~tent beyond the in~ed re- on the ~ub~tr-te in 11 direction~ to for~ ~e-led enclo-ure fra~e round ~uch in~ed re-. ~ltern-ti~el~ vhen prefor ed di~crete protective l-yer i~ adher d to the in~ed ~ub~trate it ~hould protectivel~
~e-lingl~ enclo~e the in~ed re- therebet~een ~ith dhe~ion directl~
bet~een thc inner nd outer layer~ round the in}ed re-In the embodiment ~herein co-ting i~ applied to for the protective la~er uch coating l-~er i- prefer-bl~ in effect printet upo~ the in}ed decoration and on the sub-trate round the peripheral edge- of the in~ed portion thereby providing the requi-ite protecti~e enclo~ure of ~uch iD}ed portion. ~ preferred protective coating l-~er is compri~ed of colorless ~inyl lacquer a~ailable from ~al~par Corp ~hich is ub~t ntially imperviou~ to lkaline ~ateri-ls ~uch a- ~0~ Such co-ting raterial ~hould be of mini~al thic~ne-s capable of providing the requisite protection and 88~

may be applied by s~litable methods such as rotogravure, flexograph, ~prayin~, rolling etc With the rotograw re type pplic~tion the co~ting i8 applied as ~ ~erie~ of densely ~p~ced dot~ and ~everal coating~ ~se required eo ensure th~t spacing~ bet~een the dot~ are full~ fill~d in by the ~ub~equent coatings. Depending upon the pace de~-it~ of the dot- nd the nu~ber of coatings required, the tbic~neJ~ of the coating la~er ~ay be effecti~ely reduced to about 5 aicron~.
~ preferred aaterial for u-e i~ the prefor~ed diJcrete in~ed ~ub~trste l~yer a~ vell a~ the ~econd prefor~ed diacrete layer i~ a non-pla~tici~ed poly~inyl chloride (PVC) re~in Yith heat stabilisers and an i~pact aotifier ~uch a~ dioctyl phth~late adted thereto. Other ~aterial~ ~hich ~ay be utilised for ~uch prefor~ed di~crete inner ~nd outer layerc include other forms of PVC, polystyrene, polyethylene, polye~ter and polyvinyl alcohol.
Tbe jacket i~, in a preferred embodiment, co~pri~ed of dhered preformed tiacrete heat ~hrin~able inner and outer la1er~ placed, in the for~ of a tube, around n electrochemical cell and then heat ~hrun~
thereon a- a decorative j-c~et therefor. In ~uch e~bodiment both the inner and outer layers are eparate ti-crete ele~ent~ ~nd ~n-t ~ccordingl~ be pecifically ~atched in term~ of dimension and heat ~hrin~ propertie~ ~uch that the heat hrin~ing toe- not distort the in~ed decor-tion or re~ult in unsightly jac~et i~perfections ~uch ~ ~riD~le~. It i~ preferred that both the inner and outer layer~ be co~pri~ed of the s-~e s-tesi-l to f~cilitate ~atching the ~hrin~age of both la~er~. Ho~e~er, if judiciou~ly done the ~aterials of the layers ~ay differ.
With the utili~ation of a heat hrin~ tubing, the cell jac~et can be aade e~ceedingly thin thereby permitting an increase in the s~ount of active cell co~ponent~ in tandardised cell ~ise~. The a~rim~m thic~ness of a preferret j-c~et i~ bout 80 to 85 aicron~ t-bout 40 aicron~ for the outer layer, 30 ~icrons for the inner layer and bout 10-15 microns for the lsyer of in~ and clear dhe-ive therebet~een). Thi~ co~pare~ to the thic~nes- of the pre~iou-ly u-ed aetal j-c~et- (vhich provided the 6688~

requisite metallic decoration).which had thlcknesses typically of about 0.010~ (about 250 micron~). The di~ensional thicknes- of preformed pla~tic la~ers ~ay be reduced to about 10 microu~ e-ch. ~o~ever gre-ter care in handliug such ~er~ thin ~aterial~ is thereby necessitated. The preferrcd thickne~ses de~cribed abo~e ~re particularly uited for ~uto~tcd ~nufacturing.
~tiliration of a protecti~e coating layer per~itc eYen further reduction of the jacket thic~nes- and does not require a careful ~atch to thc heat shrin~ing characteristic- of the ub-trate la~er. The prefor~ed protective layer ho~e~er, Yhile being thic~er and requiring such careful m~tching, enhances reliabilitr of tegratation resist-nce ~d f-cilitatec production of the decoratet jac~et.
In addition to the protection of the setallic in~ pro~ided, the trila~er (aetallic in~ being enclosed bet~ee~ protecti~e la~ers) SorDatio~
per~its reduction of the thic~ne-- of the tran~parent outer layer hich co~ers the inked decoration ~hereb~ a greater degree of the set~llic luster cose- through for gre-ter vi-u~l L~p~Ct. This i- oppo-ed to direct application of an in~ed decoration on the inner surface of a sel-ti~ely thick (for ~tructural integrit~) pla~tic substrate ~herein the thic~ne~s of the pl-stic sub-trate dulls the luster.
Because of the ~obile and corro~ive nature of al~line electrol~te-, a~d the high degree of ensitiYit~ of the set-llic i~s to degratation, and the fact that e~en slight degradation is highl~ noticeable, the protecti~a la~er shoult be fully adhered to the i~ed sub~trate around the full periphery of each of the in~et portion- thereof. Thus, ~heu a heet of the jac~eting ~aaterial is cut to form tubing and intivit~al tube-, there shoult be no cutting through auy of the inket portions (to be u~ed on cells) Yhereb~ such iDk beco3e~ peripherally espo~ed. 8uch peripheral csposure of the in~ed portion p~rticularly in the pre~ence of an lkaline electrolyte say re-ult in YiC~i~g of electrolyte through the ink ant the degradation thereof. Yurthermore, a peripheral section of the jacket Yith ~6~8~

a laterally exposed ink portion is h-ighly susceptible to sepdration of the protective layers from e~ch other slnce ~dher~nce in such area is dependent only upon the rel~tivel~ Yea~ cohesive ~trength of the in~
it~elf.
Thus, prior art ~ethod~ of u-Lng tYo he~t ~hrir~ ~teri~l~ on e~ch other, a-lde fro~ po-~iblc ~rinkli~8, re~ult~ in the di~dYant~ge of per~itt~ng peripher~l ir~ed edges to ro~ain open to in~a~io~ b~ the hi~hl~
~obile lk~line electrolyte In ~ccorda~ce ~ith the pre-ent in~ention the inner ant outer protective laycr~ ~re adhercd to each other ~ub~ea~tially co~pletely ~rou~d the peripher~l ed~es of the inXed ~re~ ~uch a- ~ith n dhe-ivc vhich i~ prefcrabl~ ver~ thin nd tran~parent. ~n exa~ple of ~uc~
adhe~ive ha~ing p~rticul~r utility ~ith the preferred PVC l-yer n~teri~l is ~ ~cet~tc ~ol-c~t c~rrier Yith a vin~l ba~cd adhe~i~e available fro~
the Gilbreth Co. a~ it~ ~olvent dhe~ive. ~ltern~tively, the layer- g~
be, if carefully done, heat ~ealed to e-ch other to pro~ide the requi-ite ~ealet peripheral enclo~ure for the in~ed area ~ith ~uch heat ealing beLng effected ~o-t e-sil~ by heated platen-.
The adhe~ive ~ay be applied to either or both of the inner or outer la~er~ but is preferably app~ied to the unin~ed layer to ~void po~sible di-ruption, by application roller~, of the in~. To facilitate protuction tbe ~thc~i~e i- ~pplied ac a continuou~ la~er bet~een the in~ed ~ub~trate and the protcctive la~er. ~dhesion betYeen the ~ub~trate ~nd the protective l~yer ho~e~er i- onl~ required in the peripher~l area ~
de~cribed. ~ith uch procedure Yherein the inner la~er i8 the ~ub~trate the adhe~ive ~u-t be tran-parent in order that the ~etallic decoration be extern~lly viJible.
In a preferred e~bodiment of the present invention thc outer laycr i-the i~ed ub-trate and is, of course, trau~parent in order to permit external vi-ibilit~ of tbe decorative in~ portion Such tran~parent lajer i- of ~ini~al thic~nes~ to permit ~axi~m~ visibility of the lu~ter of the ~etallic inX. ~o~ever, uch ~inimal thicXne~s is constr~ined b~ thc require~ent t~at it serve a- a protective layer for the in~ and ore restrictively that it can fea6ibly function a~ an in~ ~ub~trate ~n a i2668~1 Danufacturing proce~s, Generall~, ~uch ~ini~al thic~ne~ about 1.5 nil~
(about 0.038 mm). The inner protectlve layer may be th~nner since it does not LIilarly function a- the in~ c~rrier in the preferret e~bod~ent.
~oYe~er, the thic~nes~ tL~en~ion of the inner protecti~e la~er i- related to that of the outer protectiYe la~er ~her~b~ the~ ~re heat ~hrin~able at ~ub~t-~tially the ~a~e rate in order to prevent distortion. ~- a pr-ctical ~tter, heat application for heat hrin~ing i- 80-t iDt~e on the outer la~er Yhere it i~ directly ~pplied. The inner protectiYe la~er ha~ a reducet thic~ne-~ to co~pen--te for the difference in he~t th~t it recei~e~ for ~hrin~ing. ~ith an outer la~er thic~nes~ of l.S 8il~ (about 0.038 um) the thic~nes~ of the inner la~er i- retuced to about 1.25 mil~
( bout 0.032 8~) to provide a unifor~ shrinkage of the tsila~er r~teri~l.
The metallie in~ utilired in the deeorati~e jae~et of the pre-ent invention is one having an alu~inu~ ba-e ~inee it i- such i~- Yhieh se lS bighl~ su~eeptible to degr d-tio~. ~he ~et~llie ink ma~ be applied to the cubstrate by eo~mon methods aueh as rotogr-~ure, hot turpin~ ~d the li~e. Other t~pe- of i~ haYing ~etallic ba~e~ of nic~el, ehro~ium, gold and the like are resistant to al~aline eleetrolytes ant ~onld not require tbe proteeti~e laJers of the present invention. ~o~e~er, in~- ~ade of ~ueh ~etal~ are estre~ely eo-tl~. Cell~ ha~ing eorrosiYe ~terial- to Yhieh ~uch iik~ re tegradable ~ay ho~e~er utili~e the j-eket~ of the pre~ent in-ention to si~ilar effect, pro~iding th~t the ~teri-ls Yhieh eo~prise the inner and outer l-yers re inert to sueh eorrosiYe ~aterial-.
~ preferred eonfiguration for the decoratiYe jac~et i~ tubnl-r ~ith the jac~et being comprised of a ~ubstantiall~ rectangular ~heet eomprised of a decoration co~priaing n ~etallic in~, ubject to degr~d-tion bJ a 3aterial placed Yithin the eell. The metallic in~ is substantially co~pletely enclosed betYeen an outer tran-parent protecti~e laycr nd an ... .. .. ...
inner transparent protective layer. The inner and outer protecti~e l-yers are sealiD*l~ adhered to each other in an area substantially co~pletely peripherally urrounding -id ~etallic ii~ contai~ing decoration ~hereby a l / ) transparent fra~e ~urround~ the ~etallic in~ containinR decor~tion. The tube iB then formet b~ oYerl~pping an a~iAl or lon~;tudinal portion of the tran~parent fra~e over 8 portion of the metallic in~ containing decoration ~hicb is tirectly atjacent the asial portion of the tran-parent frn~e Yhich i~ parallel to the first a~ial portion ~hereby 8 tr~ncparent strip in the jacket decoration ~uch aY ould occur bg o~erlappiDg of the tran~parent portion~ alone i8 a~oidet. The o~erlappiug tran-p-rent portion i~ then ~ealed to the o~erlappet portion of the ~etallic in~
containing decoration preferablg b~ an adhesiYe imilar to the one ~hich i~ used to dhere the inner nd outer la~ers together or b~ heat ~ealing.
~ n i portant d~antage of the preseDt in~ention i- that the tube~ c~n foroet of nan~ p&nel~ to length- in erce~ of one thou-ant meter~. The formed tubing i8 flattened nd rollet into a ~er~ space efficient roll ~
cooparet to prior rt oetal cont-iner~ Yhich mn-t be shipped nd ~tored is indi~idual unit- comprising mostl~ Ya-tet empt~ pace. ~hen utilization of the jac~et- of the pre~ent in~ention i8 desired the tubes are opened for placc~ent on cell~ ant ~lit to the proper indivitual cize-.
~ ith pecific reference to the trawing~ Figure 1 tepict- heet of material 10 utili~ed in n~ing the cell j-c~et- of the pre~ent in~ention.
The indi~idual dccorated portion~ 12 re co~pletel~ urrounded b~ clear frames 14 of pla~tic. ~- oore reatil~ seen in Pigures 2a ant 2b the aterial 10 is comprised of t~o clear pla~tic la~er- 16 ant 18 ~hich are thered to each other b~ clear athe-i~e 11 (Pigure 2-). In Figure 2b a layer of oetJllic in~ 17 i~ ~ho~n as being protecti~ely -nt~iched bet~een protecti~e la~ers 16 and 18. In foroing the tecorati~e tubing ~hich jac~et- the cell- ~heet 10 i~ longitutinally or a~iallg cut along the dottet lines in the portion of sheet 10 bet~een ~tjacent tecorated portion- 12 Yherebg n theret clear fra e 13 of the plastic la~ers 16 ant 18 remain~ arount each of the tecor-tet portion- 12. Longitutinal clear portion 19 is o~erlappet o~er siYilar and parallel cle-r portion 19 (on the other ~ide of the tecoratet portion 12). Clear portion 19 i~ a1so partially o~erl-ppet b~ t lea-t the Yidth thereof o~er decorated ~2~i688~

portion 12 and is adhesive to the overlapped areas by a clear adhesive or by heat ~ealing to form tube 20 vith ~eam 21 shoYn i~ Yig;re 3 (an o~erlap of only the clear portion~ ~ould result in an unsightly clesr tripe).
Becau~e of the o~erlap and the formation of e~ 21 it i~ preferred that both layer~ 16 and 18 be tran~parent ~uch that the nked cg~ent 27 under aea~ 21 be clearl~ visible sc p~rt of the jac~et decoration. In dditio~
layer 18 ~ho~n a- the outer l~yer in tube 20 ~mst be tran~parent to perDit ~isibility of the in~ed decoration 12.
Tube 20 i~ thereafter (or after flattened ~toragc on a roll a-described abo~e) cut hori~ontall~ or laterally along tran~parent areas 29 to form the individual jac~eting elements 30 ~ho~n in ~igure 4 in ~hich the in~ed decor-tion 12 rem in- co~pletely surrounded b~ frame 33 of sdhered layer~ 16 and 18 (~ertic-l portions of the fr~me 33 form the ~ea~
and are not ~isible in the finished jsc~et). Jac~eting element 30 1-placcd round cell container 1 and iB heat shrun~ thereon a8 shovn. ~pper and loYer portions 33a and 33b of frsae 33 o~erlap tbe end- of cell container 1 to complete the decorati~e jac~eti~g thereof.
It i- noted that the tecoration need not be co~pletely compri~ed of the tegradation Ju-ceptible met-llic in~ and the entire decoration need not be sealingly peripherally enclo-ed ~ long as the ~et-llic portion thereof is in fact enclo~ed in ucb aanner. It i~ hovever preferred for ~nufacturing purpo~es snd to increase adhesion ~trength that such ~esled peripheral enclo-ure be around the entire decosation betveen the undecorated urface~ of both the inner and outer l-yer-. It i~
additionally noted that it is pos-ible for each of the di~crete inner and outer layer- to be ubstrates for portion- of the decoration portion and ~uch is also vithin the pur~ie~ of the present in~ention.
It i~ understood th~t t~e abo~e de~cription and the dra~ings depict e~bodiments of the preseDt in~ention and that change~ aay be ~te in ~tructure, materials, dimensions, their relati~e place~ent ant the li~e ~ithout depsrting fro~ the scope of the pre~ent in~ention a~ defined in the folloYing clai~s.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An electrochemical cell comprising a cell container having a decorative jacket thereon characterized on that said jacket is comprised of a metallic decoration, subject to degradation by a material placed within said cell container, with said metallic decoration being substantially completely enclosed between an outer transparent protective layer and an inner protective layer wherein said outer and inner and outer protective layers are sealingly adhered to each other in an area substantially completely peripherally surrounding said metallic decoration.

2. The cell of claim 1 wherein said material is an alkaline electrolyte and said metallic decoration is comprised of a metallic ink comprised of aluminum.

3. The cell of claim 1 wherein the maximum thickness of said decorative jacket is about 85 microns.

4. The cell of claim 2 wherein one of said inner and outer protective layers is preformed discrete substrate for said metallic decoration.

5. The cell of claim 4 wherein the other of said inner and outer protective layers comprises a coating adhereingly applied to said substrate.

6. The cell of claim 5 wherein said coating is comprised of vinyl lacquer and said substrate is comprised of polyvinyl chloride.

7. The cell of claim 2 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of a preformed discrete plastic layer.

8. The cell of claim 7 wherein said inner and outer layers are adhered by means of an adhesive.

9. The cell of claim 8 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a vinyl based solvent adhesive.

10. The cell of claim 7 wherein said inner and outer layers are adhered by being heat sealed to each other around the periphery of said metallic ink decoration.

11. The cell of claim 7 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of a heat shrink plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyester and polyvinyl alcohol.

12. The cell of claim 11 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of unplasticized polyvinyl chloride having a heat stabilizer and an impact modifier added thereto.

13. An electrochemical cell comprising a cell container having a tubular decorative jacket thereon characterized in that said tubular jacket is comprised of a substantially rectangular sheet having a decoration comprising a metallic ink. subject to degradation by a material placed within said cell container, with said metallic ink being substantially completely enclosed between an outer transparent protective layer and an inner transparent protective layer, wherein said outer and inner protective layers are substantially resistant to degradation by said material and are substantially impervious thereto, and wherein said inner and outer protective layers are sealingly adhered to each other, in an area substantially completely peripherally surrounding said metallic ink containing decoration, whereby a transparent frame surrounds said metallic ink containing decoration, with said tube being formed by the overlapping of a first axial portion of said transparent frame over a portion of said metallic ink containing decoration directly adjacent a second axial portion of said transparent frame which is parallel to said first axial portion and the sealing together of said first axial transparent portion to said overlapped portion of said metallic ink containing decoration.

14. A decorative jacket, for an electrochemical cell, comprised of a metallic decoration, subject to degradation by a material placed within said cell, with said metallic decoration being substantially completely enclosed between an outer transparent protective layer and an inner protective layer, wherein said outer and inner protective layers are substantially resistant to degradation by said material and are substantially impervious thereto, and wherein said inner and outer protective layers are sealingly adhered to each other in an area substantially completely peripherally surrounding said metallic decoration.

15. The jacket of claim 14 wherein said material is an alkaline electrolyte and said metallic decoration is comprised of a metallic ink comprised of aluminum.

16. The jacket of claim 14 wherein the maximum thickness of said decorative jacket is about 85 microns.

17. The jacket of claim 15 wherein one of said inner and outer protective layers is a preformed discrete substrate for said metallic decoration.

18. The jacket of claim 17 wherein the other of said inner and outer protective layers comprises a coating adheringly applied to said substrate.

19. The jacket of claim 18 wherein said coating is comprised of a vinyl lacquer and said substrate is comprised of polyvinyl chloride.

20. The jacket of claim 15 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of a preformed discrete plastic layer.

21. The jacket of claim 20 wherein said inner and outer layers are adhered by means of an adhesive.

22. The jacket of claim 21 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a vinyl based solvent adhesive.

23. The jacket of claim 20 wherein said inner and outer layers are adhered by being heat sealed to each other around the periphery of said metallic ink decoration.

24. The jacket of claim 20 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of a heat shrink plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyester and polyvinyl alcohol.

25. The jacket of claim 24 wherein said inner and outer protective layers are each comprised of unplasticized polyvinyl chloride having a heat stabilizer and an impact modifier added thereto.

26. A tubular decorative jacket, for an electrochemical cell, comprised of a substantially rectangular sheet having a decoration comprising a metallic ink, subject to degradation by a material placed within said cell, with said metallic ink being substantially completely enclosed between an outer transparent protective layer and an inner transparent protective layer, wherein said outer and inner protective layers are substantially resistant to degradation by said material and are substantially impervious thereto, and wherein said inner and outer protective layers are sealingly adhered to each other, in an area substantially completely peripherally surrounding said metallic ink containing decoration, whereby a transparent frame surrounds said metallic ink containing decoration, with said tube being formed by the overlapping of a first axial portion of said transparent frame over a portion of said metallic ink containing decoration directly adjacent a second axial portion of said transparent frame which is parallel to said first axial portion and the sealing together of said first axial transparent portion to said overlapped portion of said metallic ink containing decoration.