Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Apr. 01, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Thermax and Raydex [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Cooper Industries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cooper Industries [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax expense	$ (6,198,000)	$ (5,819,000)
Effective tax rate	21.80%
Applicable Statutory United States Tax Rate	35.00%
Tax benefit due to the impact of tax law changes	5,200,000
Income tax expense for uncertain tax position liability	3,700,000
Estimated tax liability related to the sale of the Thermax and Raydex cable business in 2012			38,500,000
Pre-tax gain on sale of business			211,600,000
Tax sharing agreement settlement price				30,000,000
Amount of tax paid		0
Tax benefit recognized					$ 21,000,000