Business Segments (Information by Segment) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from external customers	$ 1,352,359,000		$ 1,432,693,000		$ 1,482,429,000
Intersegment revenues	116,418,000		154,336,000		136,863,000
Depreciation and amortization	36,789,000		38,593,000		38,883,000
Net interest expense (income)	3,124,000		7,554,000		8,893,000
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	(38,340,000)		5,700,000		(12,480,000)
Assets	1,096,434,000		1,262,294,000		1,281,054,000
Long-lived assets	676,895,000		694,345,000		752,284,000
Expenditures for assets	14,158,000		20,091,000		22,160,000
North America/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from external customers	607,094,000		692,657,000		746,782,000
Intersegment revenues	77,901,000		104,291,000		88,112,000
Depreciation and amortization	12,896,000		12,190,000		12,814,000
Net interest expense (income)	(1,439,000)		1,254,000		5,040,000
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	(45,387,000)		4,315,000		36,297,000
Assets	250,239,000		280,383,000		295,457,000
Long-lived assets	60,309,000		62,853,000		68,190,000
Expenditures for assets	4,906,000		6,959,000		9,189,000
Institutional Products Group [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from external customers	112,290,000		126,508,000		104,911,000
Intersegment revenues	5,304,000		6,415,000		6,567,000
Depreciation and amortization	8,366,000		8,017,000		4,600,000
Net interest expense (income)	3,656,000		4,288,000		2,662,000
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	1,418,000		6,003,000		8,216,000
Assets	84,229,000		118,190,000		117,626,000
Long-lived assets	68,189,000		93,184,000		95,010,000
Expenditures for assets	3,435,000		5,376,000		3,555,000
Europe [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from external customers	583,143,000		546,543,000		544,537,000
Intersegment revenues	8,272,000		11,043,000		9,308,000
Depreciation and amortization	12,123,000		12,738,000		15,799,000
Net interest expense (income)	(53,000)		(1,292,000)		(1,754,000)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	40,468,000		31,488,000		33,579,000
Assets	693,790,000		683,751,000		689,596,000
Long-lived assets	506,329,000		493,446,000		518,382,000
Expenditures for assets	4,809,000		4,604,000		4,876,000
Asia Pacific [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from external customers	49,832,000		66,985,000		86,199,000
Intersegment revenues	24,941,000		32,587,000		32,876,000
Depreciation and amortization	3,073,000		4,505,000		4,645,000
Net interest expense (income)	960,000		3,304,000		2,945,000
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	(13,258,000)		(11,795,000)		(35,141,000)
Assets	31,034,000		39,605,000		50,604,000
Long-lived assets	5,238,000		8,034,000		10,896,000
Expenditures for assets	830,000		2,439,000		3,480,000
All Other Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Depreciation and amortization	275,000	[1]	273,000	[1]	212,000	[1]
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	(21,581,000)	[1]	(24,311,000)	[1]	(55,431,000)	[1]
Assets	37,142,000		37,208,000		35,713,000
Long-lived assets	36,830,000		36,828,000		35,361,000
Expenditures for assets	50,000		0		214,000
Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Depreciation and amortization	56,000		870,000		813,000
Assets	0		103,157,000		92,058,000
Long-lived assets	0		0		24,445,000
Expenditures for assets	128,000		713,000		846,000
Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] | North America/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Long-Lived Assets					(508,000)
Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] | Institutional Products Group [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Long-Lived Assets	(1,356,000)		(677,000)
Impairment of Intangible Assets [Member] | Asia Pacific [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Long-Lived Assets					(201,000)
Impairment of Goodwill [Member] | North America/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Assets					(7,990,000)
Impairment of Goodwill [Member] | Asia Pacific [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Increase (Decrease) in Assets					(39,729,000)
Customer Lists [Member] | NA/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived					508,000
Patents [Member] | NA/HME [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived			$ 96,000

[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.