A spiral line generator is a capacitor which is wound in a spiral, with two sheets of dielectric and two conductors, with connections at both ends.
In such apparatus where a voltage V is initially applied to the spiral at one end, the subsequent closure of a spark gap switch at the other end will cause a transient voltage to be developed of 2nV, where n is the number of turns in the spiral.
This kind of apparatus can produce voltages up to a hundred times the input, in a single unit. (No transformer required.) Rather than using a spark gap switch, semiconductor components, such as Sidacs, are often used to fire the cap when it reaches a predetermined charge. (I just got a bag of a hundred Sidacs.) There are quite a few patents in this category.
Here's a link to the first patent:
Here's a simple circuit used with HID lamps:
Here's a lamp starter with two push/pull strip lines:
Here's one which produces a square wave:
Here's a HV version (HV in, higher voltage out):
Here's a nano second version which uses a step recovery diode that "slams shut":
Here's a cheap version which can conveniently be made out of ribbon cable:
Here's one which is wrapped around an inductor:
I installed some outside building lights at a shopping mall which had this as part of the ballast. If the wave form were rectified and sent through a bifilar coil, it might provide a cheap alternative to Stan Meyer's 8xa circuit.
(http://s20.postimg.org/8wynxxg8d/pulses.jpg)
