Circuit generating high voltage

Claim 1

A circuit to be connected to a source of alternating electrical energy and effective when so connected to produce an output current at an alternating potential higher than that of the alternating source, comprising: a. a pair of input terminals; b. a resistor and a capacitor connected in series across said terminals so that the capacitor is charged through the resistor with charges of alternating polarity; c. a discharge circuit for the capacitor comprising, in series: 1 the primary winding of a step-up output transformer; and 2 a pair of parallel branches, each branch including, in series, an asymmetrically conductive device and at least one switching element having a characteristic predetermined breakdown potential and a characteristic negative resistance after said breakdown potential is exceeded, said devices in the pair of branches being oppositely poled, so that one branch conducts only during the alternate half-cycles of one polarity and the other branch conducts only during the halfcycles of the opposite polarity, each said branch having a low resistance after its switching element breaks down to its negative resistance condition, so that the discharge time of the capacitor, after said breakdown potential is reached, is determined principally by the inductance of the transformer primary and the capacitance of the capacitor; and d. a secondary winding for said output transformer connected to a pair of output terminals.