Acquisitions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of business acquisitions (in businesses)			3
Net cash consideration	$ 399,270		$ 399,270
Portion of acquired goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes	6,399		6,399
Current assets, net of cash acquired	100,689		100,689
Property, plant and equipment	52,392		52,392
Goodwill	263,405		263,405
Intangible assets	248,798		248,798
Other non-current assets	5,904		5,904
Total liabilities	(171,308)		(171,308)
Net assets acquired	499,880		499,880
Common stock issued for acquisition			100,610
Aggregate revenue of current period acquisitions included in the Company's consolidated revenue	63,492		74,884
Acquisition related costs (after tax)	1,460		3,285
Amount of nonrecurring expense, excluded from current period net earnings in pro forma financials, related to the fair value adjustments to acquisition-date inventory	5,826		6,642
Increase in Restricted Cash			20,548	0
Settlement of purchase price adjustments for Sound Solutions	45,000
Revenue from continuing operations [Abstract]
As reported	2,156,508	1,994,970	4,219,872	3,807,048
Pro forma	2,162,905	2,151,189	4,286,092	4,119,193
Net earnings from continuing operations [Abstract]
As reported	212,902	239,198	409,729	413,989
Pro forma	220,623	239,168	424,693	406,865
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations [Abstract]
As reported (in dollars per share)	$ 1.16	$ 1.28	$ 2.23	$ 2.22
Pro forma (in dollars per share)	$ 1.20	$ 1.28	$ 2.31	$ 2.18
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations [Abstract]
As reported (in dollars per share)	$ 1.15	$ 1.26	$ 2.20	$ 2.18
Pro forma (in dollars per share)	$ 1.19	$ 1.26	$ 2.28	$ 2.14
Customer Intangibles [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition cost allocated to intangible assets	195,192		195,192
Weighted average lives of finite-lived intangible assets acquired			11 years
Trademarks [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition cost allocated to intangible assets	15,940		15,940
Weighted average lives of finite-lived intangible assets acquired			11 years
Other Intangibles [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition cost allocated to intangible assets	37,666		37,666
Weighted average lives of finite-lived intangible assets acquired			7 years
Maag Pump Systems [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Increase in Restricted Cash			$ 15,848