Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for sorting documents into a pre-defined sequence

US6303889A · kind A · utility

34Cited by
6References
45Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 15, 2000
Grant dateOct 16, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 15, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
  • CPC primaryB07C3/00
  • WIPO fieldChemical engineering
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for sorting documents. The documents are scanned to determine a characteristic of each document and then sorted in response to the scanned characteristic. In particular, a method is provided for multi-pass processing of documents. In accordance with one method, each document is assigned a logical sort number corresponding to the recipient of the document. The documents are then sorted in sequential order according to the logical sort numbers. A method is also provided that compares data scanned during a pass with data obtained during a previous pass to determine the recipient of the document. In addition a method is provided for marking the documents and sorting the documents so that the markings provide indicators of pre-defined groups of documents.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.