Methods and systems for automatically sorting documents using a multi-function device

A system for automatically sorting a plurality of pages of a document by a multi-function device, an assembly of the multi-function device comprising a document feeder, a document collector and an additional document swapper, the system comprising:

• a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable to perform automatically sorting of a plurality of pages of a document by a multi-function device;
• a processor coupled to the non-transitory memory to execute the instructions stored therein;
• a user interface module, coupled to the processor, to receive a user request to sort the plurality of pages of the document, the document being placed by a user in the document feeder, wherein the user request comprises at least one sorting parameter;
• a scan module, coupled to the processor, to scan the plurality of pages placed in the document feeder;
• a document pre-processing module, coupled to the processor, to identify one or more character fields corresponding to the at least one sorting parameter in each of the scanned pages, the identification being performed by at least one of an optical character recognition technique and a form awareness technique;
• a sorting engine, coupled to the processor, to execute a plurality of page swap cycles between the document feeder, the document swapper, and the document collector until each of the scanned pages are sorted based on the at least one sorting parameter, wherein a bi-directional flow of the plurality of pages is facilitated between each of the document feeder, the document swapper, and the document collector;
• and
• a memory module, coupled to the processor, to store the one or more character fields corresponding to each of the scanned pages.

A system for automatically sorting a plurality of pages of a document by a multi-function device, an assembly of the multi-function device comprising a document feeder, a document collector and an additional document swapper, the system comprising:

• a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable to perform automatically sorting of a plurality of pages of a document by a multi-function device;
• a processor coupled to the non-transitory memory to execute the instructions stored therein;
• a user interface module, coupled to the processor, to receive a user request to sort the plurality of pages of the document, the document being placed by a user in the document feeder, wherein the user request comprises at least one sorting parameter;
• a scan module, coupled to the processor, to scan the plurality of pages placed in the document feeder;
• a document pre-processing module, coupled to the processor, to identify one or more character fields corresponding to the at least one sorting parameter in each of the scanned pages, the identification being performed by at least one of an optical character recognition technique and a form awareness technique;
• a memory module, coupled to the processor, to store the one or more character fields corresponding to each of the scanned pages;
• and
• a sorting engine, coupled to the processor, to execute a plurality of page swap cycles between the document feeder, the document swapper, and the document collector, wherein the page swap cycles are executed by comparing the one or more character fields of each of the scanned pages, wherein the execution comprises:
• placing N pages from the scanned pages in the document feeder to the document swapper;
• placing M pages from the scanned pages in the document feeder to the document collector;
• comparing the one or more character fields of the N pages in the document swapper with the one or more character fields of the M pages in document collector, for each swap cycle;
• placing the N pages and the M pages back to the document feeder in an identified sequence corresponding to the at least one sorting parameter;
• and
• repeating the page swap cycles until each of the scanned pages are sorted in the document feeder based on the at least one sorting parameter.