Patent ID: 8013261

Claim:
A method for determining mass of postal articles ( 2 ) transferred in succession, comprising the steps of: transferring the postal articles ( 2 ) in line along a path ( 18 ) comprising a change of direction ( 23 ) so that only one of the postal articles ( 2 ) occupies the change of direction ( 23 ) at a time, the change of direction ( 23 ) bending the postal articles and entailing an acceleration on each of the postal articles; performing a plurality of successive measurements on each of the postal articles ( 2 ) in a time interval (T) during which at least part of each of the postal articles ( 2 ) follows the change of direction ( 23 ) such that each of the successive measurements measuring a quantity (F) indicating a force of reaction to inertia associated with the acceleration of a portion of one of the postal articles engaging the change of direction ( 23 ) of the path ( 18 ); determining one of the mass and a weight of the postal article ( 2 ) as a function of the successive measurements of the quantity (F).