Nah at that point Sanji should‘ve had broken bones. I think its after he healed them, then the exoskeleton came into full effect blocking Queen’s attack.
He just unlocked it now. Because Black Maria’s punches were hurting him before. At this point she’d break her knuckle punching him.
Hmm I don't know if I really get what you mean.
If you are saying that Queen at first damaged him via snake grip and in the middle of it the exoskeleton's final awakening kicked in, then I'd be with you. So he at first took some damage, but the exoskeleton defended against the real serious stuff (a bunch of broken bones)
But I generally would just not use the term healing. It's not healing or regenerating. It's really just flexible and therefore can be deformed.
And great point with Black Maria. Following that logic I also doubt he would have been bothered by that punch he recieved before that snake attack. So I also believe he awakened it somewhere during the snake grip attack, but it's difficult to tell for a 100%.
If he already awakened it as soon as he got that weird feeling, it would mean that it did not lead to a base strength increase and he now has to use the RS in order to damage Queen seriously, which I personally don't think makes much sense, but again can't be 100% sure.