Method of franking as a function of mail category

A method of franking mailpieces in a franking machine, wherein said method comprises the following steps:

• a mailpiece loading step in which an operator loads a mailpiece on a feed deck of said franking machine;
• a width determination step in which the width of the mailpiece is determined automatically by a plurality of presence detectors mounted on said feed deck perpendicularly to a longitudinal wall for referencing the mailpiece;
• a mail category estimation step in which the mail category to which the mailpiece belongs is estimated by processor means of said franking machine, on the basis of said width of the mailpiece;
• an initial franking amount computation step in which an initial franking amount to be applied to said mailpiece is computed by said processor means;
• a mailpiece extraction and printing step in which the mailpiece is extracted from said feed deck, and a postal imprint including said initial franking amount is printed by print means of said franking machine;
• a real length determination step in which the real length of the mailpiece is determined by length measurement means of said franking machine;
• a comparison step in which said processor means compare the previously estimated mail category with a mail category determined on the basis of said real length of the mailpiece;
• if these two mail categories are not identical, an alarm generating step in which an audible or visible alarm is generated by a warning device of said franking machine;
• a corrected franking amount computation step in which said processor means compute a corrected franking amount;
• and
• a new postal imprint printing step in which a new postal imprint making it possible to correct the initial franking amount is printed.