In 1905 Leon Creux obtained the first US patent for a scroll type displacement device and in doing so he revolutionized theories of compression and expansion. The scroll design was discovered to be inherently quiet and low in vibration while returning great efficiency in operation. Due to difficulties in accurately machining the spiral walls and other critical components the scroll device did not enter common use until the 1990' s when CNC machining technology matured to support production of this revolutionary concept.

A scroll device operates with a fixed scroll interfit with an orbiting scroll. They are paired together with an angular and radial offset that creates a number of line contacts in operation between their spiral curved surfaces. These multiple contacts create a matching number of gas or fluid pockets. As the orbiting scroll makes a non-rotational circular motion the line contacts shift along the spiral curved surfaces, thereby changing the volume in the pockets. The volume increases or decreases depending on the direction of the scroll element's relative orbiting motion, and thus, the device can be used for compression or expansion.