Business Segments (Information by Segment) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended																														3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Asia Pacific [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Asia Pacific [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Asia Pacific [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 All Other Segments [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 All Other Segments [Member]		Dec. 31, 2010 All Other Segments [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 North America/HME [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 North America/HME [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 North America/HME [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Institutional Products Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Institutional Products Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Institutional Products Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Europe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] Asia Pacific [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] North America/HME [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] Institutional Products Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] Institutional Products Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Impairment of Goodwill [Member] Asia Pacific [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Impairment of Goodwill [Member] North America/HME [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Patents [Member] Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] NA/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Long-Lived Assets																									$ (201,000)	$ (508,000)	$ (677,000)	$ (1,052,000)			$ (96,000)
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Assets																													(39,729,000)	(7,990,000)
Revenue from external customers	1,455,461,000	1,501,639,000	1,424,564,000	66,985,000	86,199,000	82,635,000										693,285,000	746,782,000	738,441,000	148,648,000	124,121,000	97,419,000	546,543,000	544,537,000	506,069,000
Intersegment revenues	154,962,000	136,939,000	132,668,000	32,587,000	32,876,000	33,616,000										104,291,000	88,188,000	83,316,000	7,041,000	6,567,000	5,571,000	11,043,000	9,308,000	10,165,000
Depreciation and amortization	38,593,000	38,883,000	36,804,000	4,505,000	4,645,000	4,941,000	273,000	[1]	212,000	[1]	191,000	[1]	575,000	471,000	383,000	12,190,000	12,814,000	15,674,000	8,312,000	4,942,000	1,995,000	12,738,000	15,799,000	13,620,000
Net interest expense (income)	8,436,000	9,813,000	23,031,000	3,304,000	2,945,000	2,790,000										2,046,000	5,893,000	18,990,000	4,378,000	2,729,000	530,000	(1,292,000)	(1,754,000)	721,000
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	9,974,000	(9,138,000)	23,944,000	(11,795,000)	(35,141,000)	6,754,000	(24,311,000)	[1]	(55,431,000)	[1]	(79,448,000)	[1]				3,563,000	35,477,000	48,164,000	11,029,000	12,378,000	9,130,000	31,488,000	33,579,000	39,344,000
Assets	1,262,294,000	1,281,054,000	1,280,400,000	39,605,000	50,604,000	92,322,000	37,208,000		35,713,000		36,541,000		103,157,000	92,058,000	87,044,000	280,383,000	295,457,000	336,367,000	118,190,000	117,626,000	67,506,000	683,751,000	689,596,000	660,620,000
Long-lived assets	694,345,000	752,284,000	754,241,000	8,034,000	10,896,000	52,565,000	36,828,000		35,361,000		36,105,000		0	24,445,000	24,126,000	62,853,000	68,190,000	81,426,000	93,184,000	95,010,000	49,291,000	493,446,000	518,382,000	510,728,000
Expenditures for assets	$ 20,091,000	$ 22,160,000	$ 17,353,000	$ 2,439,000	$ 3,480,000	$ 2,224,000	$ 0		$ 214,000		$ 207,000		$ 572,000	$ 789,000	$ 404,000	$ 6,959,000	$ 9,189,000	$ 7,407,000	$ 5,517,000	$ 3,612,000	$ 2,663,000	$ 4,604,000	$ 4,876,000	$ 4,448,000

[1] Consists of un-allocated corporate SG&A costs and intercompany profits, which do not meet the quantitative criteria for determining reportable segments. In addition, the “All Other” earnings (loss) before income taxes includes loss on debt extinguishment including debt finance charges, interest and fees and impairment charges recognized related to limited partnership investments.