Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr. (, ; January 16, 1901 – July 27, 1988) was an American businessman and inventor whose most famous invention is the modern ice resurfacer, with his surname being registered as a trademark for these devices. In 1920, the family moved to the harbor district of Los Angeles, where Frank's older brother George operated an auto repair shop. Frank attended a trade school in Chicago for one year, he and his younger brother Lawrence opened an electrical supply business in 1922 in the Los Angeles suburb of Hynes (now part of Paramount, California). The following year he married and eventually had three children, a son and two daughters. Originally, the facility was an open-air rink, but, due to the warm and dry Southern California weather, a dome was added a few months later. The rink used a system of underfloor piping to flood the surface with a mixture of water and chemicals to produce the ice sheet. The pipes caused rippling, but Frank devised a way to eliminate the issue, making the rink very popular. A patent for his innovation was obtained in 1946.

The rink remained in the family until it was sold to the LA Kings, AEG, and American Sports Entertainment Company (ASEC) organizations in 2022. The rink has since been remodeled and rebranded as LA Kings Iceland.

Making the Zamboni ice resurfacer

After his rink opened in 1940, Frank Zamboni worked to develop a machine to resurface the ice. At the time, the process took 90 minutes and required five employees. The machine used a sharp-edged blade to shave the surface of the ice, collect the shavings, wash the ice, and spread a thin coat of fresh water onto the surface.

The Zamboni became a fixture at hockey games, often drawing positive attention from spectators. According to Zamboni's son Richard, some ice rink executives were concerned that spectators preferred to watch the Zamboni instead of buying concessions. Enthusiasm for the machines led to the creation of a fan club at Michigan Tech University and a race horse named Zamboni.

The company remained under family ownership after Frank Zamboni’s death in 1988, with his descendants continuing operations at both the original Paramount site and a second facility in Brantford, Ontario. In addition to ice resurfacers, Zamboni held several patents, including one for a machine developed for Monsanto to remove moisture from artificial turf, remove paint stripes from the same surfaces, and roll up and lay down turf in domed stadiums. His final invention, in 1983, was an automatic edger to remove ice buildup from the edges of rinks. The company’s success and continued presence in the market reflect Zamboni’s long-lasting influence on ice sports infrastructure. Though the term Zamboni was (and remains) trademarked by his company, it is sometimes generically used for any brand of ice resurfacing machine.

Death and legacy

thumb|Zamboni's invention of the [[ice resurfacer; he created it in 1949.]]Frank Zamboni died of cardiac arrest at Long Beach Memorial Hospital on July 27, 1988, at the age of 87,

The Frank J. Zamboni School, in Paramount is named after him.

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  • www.zamboni.com — Frank J. Zamboni & Co.