Some time ago, I reverse-engineered a low-cost inverter made by Vector Mfg. (now Black & Decker). It uses a classic 2-BJT astable multivibrator (AMV) but with a circuit design twist, as shown below.

The 74HC3G14 and 74HCT3G14 are triple inverters with clamp diodes at the inputs. These devices are designed for astable multivibrators, monostable multivibrators, and pulse shapers for highly noisy ...