This is what’s known as a “drop” action. This type of action is found in spinet style pianos, the smallest of upright pianos. Frankly, it’s a pain to remove due to the lifter rods (which “drop” down to the action inside the piano), and since spinets are generally not valuable instruments, it’s often not worth removing the action to do extensive work.
In this case, the plastic elbows connecting the lifter rods to the action needed to be replaced. You can see the brittle old plastic on some and the clear new plastic on others. A number had already broken.
This is a very common problem in old spinets, and other than a couple hours of labor, it’s not too expensive of a repair. Despite their small size and low market value, spinets can be perfectly viable instruments with the right upkeep!
