Business Segments (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 01, 2012	Oct. 02, 2011	Jul. 03, 2011	Apr. 03, 2011	Jan. 02, 2011	Oct. 03, 2010	Jul. 04, 2010	Apr. 04, 2010	Jan. 01, 2012	Jan. 02, 2011	Jan. 03, 2010
Sales By Product Line
Sales	$ 474.5	$ 496.4	$ 502.9	$ 468.1	$ 421.5	$ 409.8	$ 408.0	$ 404.9	$ 1,941.9	$ 1,644.2	$ 1,652.1
Turbine Engines [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									23.8	17.0	28.5
Instrumentation [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									616.6	573.2	538.4
Instrumentation [Member] | Environmental Instrumentation [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									243.8	219.8	203.3
Instrumentation [Member] | Marine Instrumentation [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									372.8	353.4	335.1
Engineered Systems [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									304.6	333.8	407.2
Engineered Systems [Member] | Engineered products and services [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									246.2	279.9	346.9
Engineered Systems [Member] | Energy Systems [Member]
Sales By Product Line
Sales									$ 34.6	$ 36.9	$ 31.8