Device and method for controlling a thick matter pump

A device for controlling a thick matter pump with two conveyor cylinders (50, 50′) communicating via two end openings (52) in a material supply container (54), operated in counter stroke by a hydraulic reversible pump (6) via hydraulic drive cylinders (5, 5′) control by the reversible pump, with a hydraulically actuated pipe switch (56) provided within the material supply container (54), which pipe switch is on its inlet side alternatingly connectable to one of the openings (52) of the conveyor cylinders (50, 50′) freeing the respective other opening and on the outlet side is connected with a conveyor conduit (58), wherein the drive cylinders (5, 5′) are hydraulically connected at one end via respectively one hydraulic conduit (11, 11′) to a connector of the reversible pump (6) and on their other end are hydraulically connected with each other via an oscillating oil conduit (12), with at least two cylinder switch sensors (20, 20′;

• 22, 22′) in predetermined separation from each other and spaced from the rod ends and/or base ends of the drive cylinders (5, 5′) and sensitive to the passage by of a piston (8, 8′) of the drive cylinder, and with a device (18) responsive to the output signal of selected cylinder switch sensor for switching or reversing the reversible pump (5) and the pipe switch (56) after completion of a piston stroke, wherein the device is a computer assisted reversing device including a measurement and evaluation routine for determining, by measurement or computation, the temporal displacement of the piston on its way between the two cylinder ends, as well as for computing therefrom a derived initiation time for the subsequent reversing of the reversible pump and the pipe switch.