of hydraulic consumer appliances which are to be controlled but in the illustrated example the device 1 is composed of two identical generally rectangular valve units each composed of four likewise generally rectangular valve blocks 4 as shown in fig2 the valve units composed of the valve blocks 4 are connected together via an intermediate unit 5 to form the control device 1 and the connection is effected by means of bolts 6 passing through holes in the blocks 4 and the intermediate unit 5 the distributor 2 is also of multi part form it likewise consists of two identical blocks 7 which are connected together with the aid of an intermediate block 8 and by means of bolts 9 which secure the blocks 7 8 together as shown in fig3 connectors 38 39 for connecting with the main pressure line and the main return line and also other optional connectors 40 41 for connection with one or more control lines are provided on the intermediate block 8 it is not essential that the distributor 2 be composed of a number of blocks assembled in this manner and the distributor 2 may consist of a single block 7 in this case references hereinafter to the.