Mcor Technologies Ltd

History and technology

In 2003, Mcor founders Dr. Conor MacCormack and Fintan MacCormack developed paper 3D printing technology. This is unlike Laminated object manufacturing (LOM) technology, developed by Helisys Inc. (now Cubic Technologies). Whereas LOM technology uses rolls of adhesive-coated paper and a knife or laser to cut a shape, paper 3D printing uses sheets of standard business A4 and letter paper, an adhesive dispensing system and a tungsten-tip blade to cut the shape. As in many other rapid prototyping processes, the part to be printed is built up from multiple thin cross sections of the 3D model created via computer aided design (CAD) software.

After going a few years without official funding, in 2014, Mcor Technologies secured 2 rounds of venture funding which totaled $32 million, making it the largest amount raised by any 3D printing company that year.

The process utilised by Mcor Technologies is as follows:

1. A sheet of paper is fed into the 3D printer.
2. A tungsten-tip blade cuts the desired geometry into the paper, also making a series of cross-hatch cuts in the area surrounding the part to facilitate support removal at the end of the process.
3. Drops of adhesive are dispensed on the paper (greater amounts within the boundaries of the shape and lesser amounts in the area that will become the disposable supporting material).
4. A new sheet of paper is fed into the printer.
5. The platform inside the printer raises to the top of the printer, applying pressure to the new sheet of paper and the prior sheet, fusing them together.
6. The platform lowers and the blade cuts the shape on the second sheet of paper, repeating this process until the shape is complete.
7. The solidified shape or part is manually separated from the surrounding paper.

Colour 3D printing

Some Mcor 3D printers can print parts in colour. This is achieved by depositing coloured ink on each sheet of paper – using a modified two-dimensional inkjet paper printer – and then loading those sheets of paper into the section of the printer where the cutting and gluing occurs. Colour 3D printing can be used to replicate the appearance of buildings, maps, products, anatomy, and molecular structures. It can also add annotations to prototypes, display the results of structural analyses (i.e., finite element analyses) and be used to produce consumer products.