Frank J. Zamboni was an ice rink owner and operator who grew frustrated with the labor-intensive process of manually resurfacing ice. Prior to the Zamboni, ice rinks were resurfaced using a combination of hand scrapers, water hoses, and mops, which was both time-consuming and inefficient. 

Over the years, Zamboni continued to improve his design, incorporating features such as more efficient ice-shaving blades and better water application systems. The machines have evolved significantly from their original models. 

The Zamboni name has become synonymous with ice resurfacing machines, to the point where "Zamboni" is sometimes used generically to refer to any ice resurfacer.