Long Term Debt (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 banks	Jan. 01, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum [Member]	May 31, 2011 MKS Inc [Member]	Nov. 22, 2011 MKS Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 MKS Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 MKS Inc [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility syndicate, number of participating banks	10
Credit facility amount	$ 300,000,000
Revolving credit facility additional borrowing limit	150,000,000
Voting interest in foreign subsidiaries pledged against credit facility	65.00%
Revolving credit facility, additional borrowings	40,000,000				250,000,000
Borrowings outstanding							200,000,000	200,000,000
Repayment of line of credit	40,000,000	0
Credit facility interest rate			1.625%	1.25%		1.6875%
Credit facility, interest rate at period end	1.875%
Basis spread over base rate			0.625%	0.25%
Basis spread on federal funds effective rate	0.005%
Basis spread on adjusted LIBOR	1.00%
Credit facility commitment fees percentage			0.30%	0.20%
Investment limit in foreign subsidiaries	50,000,000
Cash investment limit for acquisition of business	$ 75,000,000
Maximum leverage ratio allowed under debt covenant	2.5
Minimum fixed charge coverage ratio allowed under debt covenant	1.25
Leverage ratio, actual	0.78
Fixed charge coverage ratio, actual	3.52