SORTING A MEDIA STACK USING A SCANNING APPARATUS

1 . A scanning apparatus comprising:

a scan element disposable proximate a scan window;

a document input holder;

a document output holder;

an automatic document feeder configured to move sheets of media from the document input holder past the scan window for scanning by the scan element; and

a controller including:

a first selectable mode that includes ordering a randomly oriented stack of recording medium provided to the automatic document feeder; and

a second selectable mode that includes scanning images for information content on documents provided to the automatic document feeder.

2 . The scanning apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a sorting storage unit.

3 . The scanning apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising duplexing capability.

4 . A multifunction printer comprising:

a printing apparatus including a print media input holder; and

a scanning apparatus including:

a scan element disposed proximate a scan window;

a document input holder;

a document output holder;

an automatic document feeder configured to move sheets of media from the document input holder past the scan window for scanning by the scan element; and

a controller including:

a first selectable mode that includes ordering a randomly oriented stack of recording medium provided to the automatic document feeder for loading into the print media input holder of the printing apparatus; and

a second selectable mode that includes scanning images for information content on documents provided to the automatic document feeder.

5 . The multifunction printer of claim 4 , wherein the scanning apparatus further includes a sorting storage unit.

6 . The multifunction printer of claim 4 , wherein the scanning apparatus further includes duplexing capability.

7 . A method of automatically ordering a randomly oriented stack of recording medium provided to an automatic document feeder of a scanning apparatus, the method comprising:

(a) using the automatic document feeder to move a sheet of recording medium past a scan element of the scanning apparatus;

(b) using the scan element to scan a first side of the sheet of recording medium to provide scan data;

(c) analyzing the scan data to determine whether the first side of the sheet has previously been marked on;

(d) moving the sheet to a first site in the scanning apparatus if it is determined that the first side has been previously marked on; and

(e) moving the sheet to a second site in the scanning apparatus if it is determined that the first side has not been previously marked on.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the first location includes a sorting storage unit.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the scanning apparatus includes duplexing capability.

10 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein moving the sheet to the first site includes using the duplexing capability to turn the sheet over.

11 . The method according to claim 7 further comprising repeating steps (a) through (e) for each successive sheet in the randomly oriented stack of recording media, thereby providing a first set of sheets in the first site and a second set of sheets in the second site.

12 . The method according to claim 11 further comprising:

providing the first set of sheets to the automatic document feeder; and

repeating steps (a) through (d) for each successive sheet in the first set of sheets, thereby providing a group of sheets in the first site of the scanning apparatus, wherein each sheet in the group of sheets has previously been marked on both the first side and on a second side opposite the first side.

13 . The method according to claim 11 , the scanning apparatus being included in a multifunction printer, the method further comprising loading the second set of sheets of recording medium into a print media input holder of a printing apparatus of the multifunction printer for subsequent printing.

14 . The method according to claim 11 , the scanning apparatus being included in a multifunction printer, the method further comprising:

turning over the first set of sheets;

adding the turned over first set of sheets to the second set of sheets; and

loading the first and second sets of sheets of recording medium into a print media input holder of a printing apparatus of the multifunction printer for subsequent printing.

15 . The method according to claim 11 further comprising:

providing instructions to place the first set of sheets at an input to the automatic document feeder; and

repeating steps (a) through (d) for each successive sheet in the first set of sheets, thereby providing a group of sheets in the first site of the scanning apparatus, wherein each sheet in the group of sheets has previously been marked on both the first side and on a second side opposite the first side.

16 . The method according to claim 11 , the scanning apparatus being included in a multifunction printer, the method further comprising providing instructions to load the second set of sheets of recording medium into a print media input holder of a printing apparatus of the multifunction printer for subsequent printing.

17 . The method according to claim 11 , the scanning apparatus being included in a multifunction printer, the method further comprising:

providing instructions to add the first set of sheets to the second set of sheets; and

providing instructions to load the first and second sets of sheets of recording medium into a print media input holder of a printing apparatus of the multifunction printer for subsequent printing.

18 . The method according to claim 11 further including recognizing that a media sort mode has been selected.