Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 29, 2015	Mar. 30, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 565.0us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	$ 573.5us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	345.9us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold	351.7us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold
Selling, general and administrative expenses	151.8	155.8
Total costs and expenses	497.7us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses	507.5us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses
Operating income	67.3us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	66.0us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest and debt expense, net	(5.9)us-gaap_InterestAndDebtExpense	(4.7)us-gaap_InterestAndDebtExpense
Other income, net	0.8us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	0.6us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Income before income taxes	62.2	61.9
Provision for income taxes	18.5us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	15.9us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net income	43.7us-gaap_ProfitLoss	46.0us-gaap_ProfitLoss
Noncontrolling interest		(0.2)
Net income attributable to Teledyne	$ 43.7us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 45.8us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Basic earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.22us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 1.22us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	35.7	37.5
Diluted earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.20us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 1.20us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding (in shares)	36.5	38.3

The aggregate costs related to goods produced and sold and services rendered by an entity during the reporting period. This excludes costs incurred during the reporting period related to financial services rendered and other revenue generating activities.

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